KTLguitars

After years of too loud guitar playing, compensating the lack of skill with high volume, I don't seem to hear any difference on cables And when someone from time to time hear "radio freequencies" from their guitar, I'm really impressed - I can only hear frequencies up to about 18kHz on a good day - and others can hear noise at 27MHz

lovekraft: Of course it woudn't be easy, and yes, you have to impedance mach the output, but normally the output transformers have an often un-used 4 ohm speaker connection - so it could be done. Economically you save 8 tubes (if using EL34s), and you can actually build one driver circuit (instead of two) with some more powerfull drivers than the normal ECC83 types. And the std. 100W output transformer are fairly priced due to high production numbers... The reason why someone don't....it is anyway far more expensive than ss - it produces a considerable amount of heat, requiring large open chassies, and the reliability isn't the same, you have to service it, it will be heavy....but it would have been damn cool to build one, wouldn't it? Other reason: -the tube amp business is quite conservative. It is only the last years it has been normal to have bridged power amps for ss hi-fi systems, inherited from PA systems, and this is still new in the tube amp business, - and it seems quite accepted to use ss amps for high-power bass systems. Or you can do as some of the more extreme japanese hi-fi builders, using radio transmitter tubes....EXPENSIVE is the word I think! Pity I only play the guitar - could be funny to try it out - but hey, I save the money! KTL

Back to the bass tube power amp! There is no substitute to cubic inches... nor tube power! Why not try this: If you want a high power tube amp - build two push pull output sections like e.g. Marshall 100W power stage, complete with output transformers, inputs coupled in parallell, - series coupling of the two secondary windings of the output transformers gives a bridged ouput - that will give you the double output voltage - and the the square of this, = 4 times, of power ( P=U2/R ) giving 400W. This will give the need for two standard output transformers and e.g 8 EL34 tubes. PS Safety trick - before starting the trial and error sequecies - put an indicator light built of a LED, series coupled with a resistor over the ca 450V Power supply output - dimension the resistor to give you the right current for the LED - calculate the power rating for the resistor. When you turn off the amp this circuit will aid the draining of the capacitors and giving you a warning light thats goes out at about 40- 50 volts - when the circuit is safe! When the LED lights - put one hand in your back pocket and leave it there as long as you do work inside the amp with the other one!

I've had exactly the same thought - to use either geared banjo tuners or maybe try to use the dulimer tuneres Dulcimer tuners from StewMac with 14:1 ratio. I think maybe the 4:1 ratio available for banjo would be difficult to tune..(?). I can't see any reason why this shouldn't work - you have to do some geometrical work to insure correct string pull directions... but why not! The only problem I can come up with must be how to make it wide enough and still keep the elegance of the violin headstock

This was a thread with much varying information...... A few things - the tap tone or the "bonk" is the resonant frequency as well as the dampening of it! The less dampening you have the easier it becomes to hear the tone because it sustains more. A resonant frequency is decided by the stiffness and the weight of an element (e.g a guitar top) -that explains why the "bonk" changes with every carve you make (affects both the wight and the stiffness)! -And a properly glued two or three piece body should have the same "bonk" as a one piece body of the same wood! For instrument/tone wood use - the best is the "dry" plywood, not impregnated with glue or other polymers. The stiffnes added by the porefilling is next to nothing, compared with the the increased density - thus giving the same element (e.g the top) a lower resonant frequency and in most cases the polymer act as a damper. I use birch plywood for the sides in this one: I have used three layers of 15mm = 45mm plywood. As the sides of an acousitic guitar acts like a reference for the vibrations in the top and back - it is nice to have the extra dampening and weight I find in plywood there. (the sides are actually thin - about 8-10 mm - so the guitar is stil fairly light)

RAI6, you wrote To me they look rusty (and the intonation fixing screws as well)!? Might have been laying in his garage for 20 years....

The depth/size of the body is depending of the output you want. Personally I would have buildt in one of the Mini amps you can buy (the cigarette pack ones) - havn't heard them myself but have been told that thay actually can play quite ok!

And if you have a Bigsby or an other tremolo, you don't have to retune the entire system

An arched surface is also stiffer geometrically, so the resonant frequency (tap tone) will be higher, thus giving you more posibilities for tuning. Follow the advice of Myka: Build the the soundboard to a relaxed state and tune it - else the tuning will change while the initial tension disappears. (Wood is actually as close as you can get to polymers in the nature, the main difference to wood and polymers is the grain and thus directional character of woods. Mechanically they behave very similarly, and the tendency to relaxation is well known from polymers. Normal non-reinforced polymers have lost all initial tension in about a year or two in room temperature)

Hi Luke, I don't actually know much about filling and how it would work on an enclosed chambered guitar with a solid center piece. As a guess I would say that the solid maple center piece makes all relations between the neck, the string ancoring at the bridge and the pick-ups very rigid and therefore I can't see that stuffing the body can make much difference. More scientifically: I would think that the wings will be (compared to a regular archtop acoustic) fairly stiff (small and rigid) thus giving the body a fairly high resonant frequency, so it shouldn't be very susceptible to feedback anyway. Personally I don't think that I had stuffed it! -and if you don't fill it know, you can make f-holes later on if you for some reason change your mind... All the best Knut Tore

Hi and welcome Luke, I think that could be a good consept - kind of combining the best of each of the three types! As you are planning to use mahogany for the wings - you should either make them laminated or a bit thicker than normal. The mahogany is fairly brittle, so thin "wings" might be more prone to accidental damage. (Personally I would have gone for solid mahogany wings, but making them a little thicker, about 8mm (about 5/16 inch) should do) All the best with your project! Knut Tore

You have tools for measuring angels... - or you can use a long ruler put it parallel to the body, in contact with the last fret, that will normally be 21, 22 or 24 fret. Then measure the gap between the 1st fret and the ruler ( =A ) -measure the distance from the first to the last fret ( =B ) - then remember the trigonometry from school . Tan(NeckAngle) = A/B, -or as you do on the calculator: Atan (A/B) = Neck angle

JamesW: You asked The Archtop I mentionned earlier is actually laquered all over internally and absolutely not treated carefully- just left on the wall when not played or in the car over night in the winter and directly onto the wall hanger. And it don't warp! I can't find any reason for not laquering the interior just before gluing the hole thing together - can't harm? I don't think it affects the sound either - maybe if one have the really large ears - but I don't!

Solid carved top sounds better but are less robust than laminated. The laminated tops also gets stiffer (less flexible) and gives a brighter sound. If you use maple in your top, it will also give you a sound leaning agains the brighter but kind of richer than laminated, -if you want the warmer acoustic sound -use spruce. I think you have a certain way that the harmonics increases during a sustainging note in solid wood tops that the laminated (and composite) instruments don't give. Regarding the cracking of solid tops, a tip here is to use one thin layer of polyurethane laquer inside the top before mounting the hole thing together - also use polyurethane laquer for your finishing because of its high diffusion resistance. That would seal your body so that the hunidity transport into and out of the wood will be very slow. The cracking occur when the wood suddenly dries out - just over a few days/weeks (typically here in Norway when the winther comes with intensive heating after a humid autumn!). I have done this to a semi acoustic which I am hanging on the wall a couple of feets to the side of a cold window with an electric heater underneath - just to check it out - and it has now survived four winthers in the same place!

I don't know about the Encore acoustic, what kind of polymer it made of, but if you are not planning to remove it again later -epoxy normally would work -as Darren says. There might also be other, more kind of universal hobby glues, that can work well for the combination of wood and polymers.

Hi, I'm also using african mahogany in my guitars, mostly because it is available here in Norway. The one I use is called Araputanga, but I think there are many local names on the same type of mahogany, so it may as well be equal to one of those you mention. Anyway the araputanga has good tonal qualities. As far as I know, the african mahogany is less dens about 10% to 20% (doesn't harm when building a LP) and also a little more brittle. That means a little less strength and a bit stiffer (less flexible). Regarding the tonality, I will say that it is a bit brighter. The only problem I can see, must be the strength in the neck-headstock region, but only against accidental damage.

Yeah, its a chain saw, but you quickly gets used to it! Due to the high RPM of the angle grinder it removes material several times faster than a regular chain saw! A hollow-body arched top is just 20 minutes both sides...

Don't put difficulties aside till later - solve them first - think them through - ask if in doubt - try to understand the hole thing before you start! Good luck!

The shielding is transporting unwanted electric energy radiated e.g. from fluorescent lights etc., to ground, avioding unwanted hum and noise signals in your wiring. This is more important with single-coils than with (hum-canselling) humbuckers. However magnetic energy can only be shielded with soft iron and will not be much attenuated with an aluminium or copper shield - though magnetic energy is more a local thing so with a guitar you can just move away a few feet from the source. Anyway it's a good habit to ground, by wire, all pot- and switch housings. If you absolutely don't want to sheild your see-through PG -just do as you said - sheild the cavity, and wire all metal parts housings. Avoid long free ends, especially on capacitors, and keep wiring as close to the ground shields as possible. (All grounded metal parts e.g a jack mounting plate work as a shielding)

If you (or your wood-working friends) have a router and the skill to use it you can route for extra angle in the neck pocket or put in some kind of adjustment as Fender actually are doing on some of their more expensive Guitars -think they call it micro-tilt or something - they finally figuerd it out after 50 yaers.... If you want another option for your sound you could also put in a coil tap switch - then you can use it as single coil form time to time...

I use these on an angle grinder for carving doesn't burn, and works fast - please hold tight with both hans!!!! Works as well in maple as in spruce - Then I finish with 40grit then 80grit on the angle grinder before orbital sanding. In Norway I buy them here Clas Ohlson a Swedish chain. They are made by Toolbox in Sweeden - drop them a mail on info@toolboxsweden.se and ask if they have a reseller. (They are closed in week 29 and 30, two next weeks I think, for summer holyday)

You have the both- the truss rod from the back (Skunk Stripe) and the separate fingerboard versions e.g Warmoth necks Warmoth If you make a three-piece neck you can route the tunnel into the middle section sideways - then you have no skunk stripe or no separate fretboard! (If you are going to use a softer wood than maple, rosewood or ebony you should use jumbo frets to avoid excessive wear on the fingerboard!)

Are those the Fenders made in their new factory in Iraq...?

There is only one FR SpeedLoader....and that one is absolutely not the one! The hole thing is about how the strings are tuned to a specific length within very small toleraces, to avoid the hassle with the locking trem and nut. It works well, and the strings don't break at the ends. I have used it on my Magnum648 for about 10 months and have good experience with it:

It is no problem to polish plexiglass or acrylic to a high gloss and totally clear after cutting or routing - you do exactly what you would do with wood/laquer - just sand smooth and polish like you would with laquer. Leave the control/pick-up cavities matt translucent to hide wiring, pot and pick-up backs etc. You can even put colour laquer inside the cavities to give them a cool colour effect through the clear plastic (thats how you paint the body on RC-cars - paint on the interior leaving the plastic as a thick clear coat). Much easier than casting if you only are making one!